Meet Brittany, Our Treasurer.

Hi all! I’m Brittany, the treasurer of Project Food Forest. I’m also a wife, mother, gardener, backyard chicken farmer and avid cupcake lover.

Born and raised in South Dakota, I would consider myself a country farm girl. I grew up on a largish farm near Brookings, South Dakota. We were the typical farm family – grew corn, soybeans, wheat and raised cows. When I was in high school, my dad thought it would be a good idea to get into the farm fresh egg business. So instead of a part time job, I raised and sold eggs to local care centers and a couple cafes in the area. At one point, I had over 300 chickens. It was a fun business and it taught me a lot about being an entrepreneur.

Since getting married, my husband Josh and I have somewhat planted our roots in town. We aspire to one day (hopefully somewhat soon) buy an acreage. Josh has always lived in town so living in the country is a foreign but appealing idea to him. Even though he has always lived in South Dakota, he surprised me with his lack of knowledge of growing things. One of our first years together we went to our neighbors who sold tons of pumpkins during the fall. I remember him asking me how people would harvest the pumpkins. He wondered how they got the very large ones dug out from underneath the ground. I was shocked. He thought pumpkins grew underground like potatoes. Silly man had no idea they grew on vines ABOVE ground. He has come a long way in our 5 years together and the pumpkin plant in our garden this year is now his pride and joy. It seriously takes up half the garden and continues to grow more and more each day.

I am also the proud mother of two kids. When I got pregnant with my first, a lot of things changed for us. We became more aware of the impact we were making on the planet and aware of the things we were putting into our bodies. Sustainability became a priority for us. It honestly started with me buying cloth diapers. Once I discovered those, it opened a whole new world for me. I began to see opportunities everywhere to learn and reuse more.

This is why I am in support of Project Food Forest. Even though we live in a farming community, many people do not know where their food comes from. Some don’t even have food to eat each night. I love connecting and teaching people where their food comes from and showing them how easy it can be to grow their own food. Project Food Forest helps provide food for the hungry and knowledge for the community on new techniques and food options that may not otherwise be considered.

I’ll be back in a couple weeks with my first ‘official’ blog post. You can expect my posts to be about many different things such as kombucha brewing or canning/freezing produce. I’m still learning this sustainability lifestyle and I hope to share some things that I have learned with you.

Until next time – Brittany